


It Takes Time

by tillifer



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 02:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11477124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tillifer/pseuds/tillifer
Summary: A one-shot of Nico di Angelo getting healthier over time, except it isn't necessarily a straight line.





	It Takes Time

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first fic, and I wrote it for onceuponymous for the Feast of Fortuna event. They asked for the prompt "Nico getting healthier" and im not sure if I wrote that exactly, but here it is! I apologize for any OOCness and typos.

10   
He could hardly believe it. Everything he’d known, or thought he’d know, was all true. The gods, demigods, monsters. It was amazing. He wanted to, no, he had to know everything. It was all so amazing, but then, then she left. Bianca just, left him, just like their mother. But he wouldn’t give up on them, he still believed, despite everything that happened, that they were still there, yet not there at the same time. It was weird and he didn’t like it, but he didn’t dwell on it too much. At least, not until Percy came back, bearing the bad news. He couldn’t take it and had to get out, get away. 

11  
Nothing even mattered anymore. Not until he was able to get Bianca back. And no matter how much he told himself everything was fine, that he had control, he knew that everything was starting to fall apart. He didn’t care what happened to him, he was willing to do anything to get her back, even if it meant destroying himself. At times, he felt like it was all worth it, yet there were times when he asked himself if this was what he wanted. To destroy himself over BIanca, is that what she would’ve wanted? All of these thoughts were his, though he was too scared to think of them. It was thanks to Percy and Bianca that he stopped. They voiced the concerns that he was to afraid to admit. Bianca confirmed that destroying himself over him would come to no good. All of this led Nico to be able to push through. He was done being betrayed and felt like it was finally time to do something with himself, something Bianca would be proud of, and that started with making amends.

12  
He was making amends, or at least, trying to. He knew he had to help Percy, but he needed something first. He had to know what had happened to his mother. He also had to prove that Bianca didn’t die for nothing. Once all of this was over, he would be able to help the fight, and hopefully get his father to help the gods. The god wouldn’t listen, and it was infuriating! Nico was able to forgive himself, but he would never be able to forgive his father if he didn’t fight. After everything that he and Bianca had been through, how could Hades not have a reason to fight? Doesn’t he care? He probably didn’t, he hasn’t in the past. But then again, he did save Nico and Bianca from dying. That was done by a god, who had just wanted to be rid of them, but these were titans who wanted to wipe out all of the gods and take over the world! He understood the ostracization from the other gods, he had experienced the same thing at camp, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to fight! He had to convince his father, and after a while he finally knew how. While fighting alongside his father, Nico felt alive again, like he was doing something important. He was able to help the people he considered friends and they cheered for him. He felt wanted. He was not only accepted by the campers, but also by his father. He felt pride from all of them in building the Hades cabin, though it soon dispersed as he came and went from camp.

13  
In his search for Percy, Nico had found Camp Jupiter and had brought Hazel there. He enjoyed having a sister again, despite them only being related on their godly side. He felt like he could protect her, he needed to protect her. After everything they had both been through, they needed each other. They needed accept theirs pasts and move on, and he had thought it would be easier together. After bringing Hazel to Camp Jupiter, he then became the Ambassador of Pluto. A title he would not tarnish. And in doing all of this, he had found Percy, though Nico couldn’t help him in the he was in. Percy would just have to work things out on his own.   
Nico knew Percy would be able to handle things at Camp Jupiter as he was leaving. He had his own agenda, he had to see if he could find the Doors of Death from inside the Underworld. He could say that he was going through hell, quite literally. He had gotten much too close to Tartarus for his own liking, and nearly couldn’t stand it. He had known what to do though. He knew what he needed. There was a river, a river of fire, he remembered. But the name, the name escaped him for a moment and he was worried he might never survive down there. Then, after another moment, he remembered the name and remembered the way. He staggered his way over to the river and drank. It burned his throat but he knew it was necessary. He followed the river as far as he could until he came upon Akhlys. She only made his experience worse. She laughed at him, the nerve! He would have never been so cruel, to laugh at someone’s pain while they’re at lowest point seemed sadistic to him. It was a fate worse than death, and he would know. Once he left Akhlys, he had come upon Gaea’s forces around the door. He had tried to fight them off, but he was weak and insanely outnumbered, he couldn’t even try. He had given up on himself, but he knew the others could do it.   
Before he knew it, he was being moved into what he believed to be a jar. The air was toxic, unbreathable, most likely meant to kill him a slowly and painfully. But he couldn’t just die. Who would protect Hazel? Who would tell them where the doors of death were? He had to stay alive. He had a last resort, pomegranate seeds to put him in a trance. He wouldn’t need air, though he would become even weaker than he already was, if that was possible. He only had a few seeds, and he could only hope the others would come to save him. But while waiting those destructive thoughts resurfaced, after months he thought he was fine, but deep down he knew he wasn’t. He fought himself over this time and time again while he was stuck in that jar. Only then, during one of these bouts, the jar broke, and Nico didn’t know what to do. He was too weak to do anything, and too surprised to think of anything. The dark thoughts instantly vanished as he was pulled onto the Argo II, and all he could think about was resting.   
When he woke up he felt better, still like complete crap, but definitely better than before. He knew he would need to eat something soon aswell, but he had to tell the others what he had found. It wasn’t good news, but they needed to know.   
They had finally met up with Annabeth and were securing the Athena Parthenos when Annabeth fell. Naturally, Percy had tried to save her, and everyone else tried to save them. Nico was so close to saving him, but he was still out of reach. All he could do was promise to lead the others to the other side of the doors of death, he promised, though he was unsure if he could keep it, due to the failures of his past missions.   
In trying to defend themselves from mountain gods, Nico is reminded of how little he can help. He can’t set up the mast and can’t shadow travel the ship, as he’s still to weak. His mood falls even more when Hazel finds a way to save them. He was supposed to protect her, keep her safe, and yet here they were.   
He and Jason were on their way to retrieve the spear. Nico concluded that it was one of the most unpleasant trips to date. Forced to come out, to admit his feelings, and in front of Jason no less. He was humiliated. He thought he had come to terms with his feelings but hearing them outloud and in Cupid’s tone, he wasn’t alright. Jason had tried to comfort him after but he didn’t accept it, he didn’t want to see anyone. After retrieving the spear, they went to and exited the palace of the Lord of the South Wind. He talked to Jason again, trying to convince him that the others would accept him, but he couldn’t believe that, not after everyone not accepting him being a son of Hades. What would being gay change? He knew no one would accept him, no one but Bianca, but she was gone and he couldn’t fathom anyone else being like her. Their talk escalated into an argument and lead to Nico not being able to continue with the group after leading them to the House of Hades. He couldn't stand Jason at the moment and had to leave.   
He was set to leave with Reyna and Coach Hedge to bring the Athena Parthenos back to camp halfblood. He was glad to be leaving the group, as he felt there was too much tension. He also didn’t really know Reyna, so there would be no confrontational talks. He had rested as much as he could but it probably wouldn’t be enough. He was strong enough to get them to Albania, but he didn’t want to remember what happened there. It was such an experience that he wasn’t quite focused on the next shadow travel and nearly dropped them into Mount Vesuvius. It was thanks to Reyna that they survived. Nico liked Reyna, so to speak. She was kind of like Bianca, and Nico liked having a somewhat older sister again. She protected him, which was nice considering how drained he got from shadow travelling. He knew not to drop his guard, yet with Reyna, he felt a tiny bit happier and let himself relax the slightest bit. That was a bad idea. He had passed out for a while and completely overshot their original destination. There, he met with his father and gained horrible information that he really didn’t know what to do with. He, Reyna and Hedge are attacked and then finally one of the pieces fits into place. He is able to protect Reyna and Hedge, and then shadow travels away again. He felt useful again, and important. He was fighting again which meant he was healing.   
After another round of shadow travelling, Nico had to lose his aviator jacket. It was funny, really, both Nico and the jacket were damaged, and here they were the jacket being discarded and Nico moving on. The jacket was an accurate representation of how Nico felt about himself at times. Hopefully by leaving it here he would leave the thoughts too. Much to his annoyance, the rest of their trip was not smooth sailing, they encountered Orion along with the hunters. They barely escape again which is something that Nico thinks should change. Though how could that ever happen, they were demigods, and with Nico’s luck, it would take a month to get back.   
Nico couldn't say how glad he was to be with Reyna. They shared stories of their families and it felt so great for someone to understand and not pity him. This happy moment was soon interrupted though, as another demigod had come to kill them. He threatened Reyna and that was the final straw. After everything he had lost, first his mother, then Bianca, then Hazel, he couldn’t just stand by and let this happen. He snapped. He let all of his emotions out, he couldn’t keep it all bottled up. It was therapeutic, almost. All those times he thought he was ok with himself, he finally realized he wasn’t, and he might never be, and that was ok. He took it out on the demigod that had threaten Reyna, sending his ghost straight to the underworld, and then promptly passed out. When he woke up, he was surprised to find that Hedge and Reyna still trusted him, despite what he was capable of. He was out of power from the last attack, and just in time, was a flock of pegasi, which Nico could’ve sworn was more than coincidence.   
Nico and Reyna had gone over to the Roman camp and met up with a few other demigods out to destroy weapons. While talking to Will, Nico is surprised at his statement that people want to be his friend. After everything he’s done and who he is, he still can’t understand that. After the fight, Nico is happily accepted by the campers after Reyna’s announcement of him helping both camps. He couldn’t believe her. She hugged him and he hugged her back, letting out all the tears that he had been bottling up for months. The next day, Nico interacted with a few other campers, not quite sure if he was okay, but happy nonetheless. It was such a weird feeling, not having to worry about anything and being happy, it felt foreign to him. And he supposed that he might be able to get used to it. 

14  
Things were better now, better than they’ve been in a long time. Nico couldn’t believe his luck. He managed to survive everything that happened, every feeling, every interaction, and every time Will got upset over some small wound. It wasn’t much to worry about really, but he enjoyed someone caring about him. Thanks to Will, Nico was finally eating regularly, and he felt good about it. He trained when he could and had a few “friends.” Though he was happy enough with Will. He actually had a sleep schedule too, which was one of the weirdest things. Will had certainly changed him for the better, and Nico was okay with that.


End file.
